Contact Lens Institute Culture Awards: Call for Nominations

The 2024 Contact Lens Institute^™ (CLI) Culture Awards are now open for nominations. The program honors professionals who foster a positive contact lens culture within eye care practices, exemplifying behaviors and actions reflected in CLI’s Fall 2023 The Culture Calculation: Data-Backed Behaviors for Contact Lens Success report to enhance patient experiences and business success.

Contact lens patients consistently describe the multiple vision, lifestyle, and confidence-boosting aspects of wear, and numerous practices have realized the significant lifetime value of this population.  While past CLI research has shown that many eye care providers are missing the opportunity to talk about contact lens options with 2/3^rds of patients, 44% of glasses only wearers are open to considering contact lenses. A contact lens-affirming culture helps ensure that these conversations happen regularly.

The Contact Lens Institute Culture Awards are designed to discover outstanding contact lens prescribing practices, then inspire others to adopt the same.

Individuals within the U.S. eye care community who prescribe or support soft contact lens prescribing is eligible for consideration. Current CLI Visionaries and their practices are not eligible. Self-nominations are allowed and encouraged.

To apply, simply provide a concise response (750 words or less in total) that addresses at least two of the following questions:

• How has the nominee enhanced patient outcomes using soft contact lenses?
• What initiatives, processes, or projects has the nominee put into place in their practice that enhances a positive culture for recommending soft contact lenses and patient wear?
• How does the nominee engage practice staff to take an active advocacy role for healthy, happy soft contact lens wear?
• Can you describe a particular nominee-patient interaction that exemplifies how soft contact lenses have changed or improved a patient’s life, and which may inspire colleagues?

To improve chances of recognition, please reference proven factors identified in The Culture Calculation report, specifically: the use of new/advanced soft contact lenses, offering training/education/mentorship, encouraging contact lens advocacy, reinforcing professional and personal prescribing benefits, and/or tracking soft contact lens business outcomes. Nominators can submit additional materials at their discretion.

Honorees will be announced by the Contact Lens Institute in December 2024, with ongoing recognition into the following year through traditional and digital / social media sources. Each will receive an award winner digital insignia, which can be used for practice promotion. Honorees must agree to have their name and likeness used by the Contact Lens Institute in relation to the program, and must be willing to participate in a short video interview (via Zoom) regarding their practice success, which will then be shared with the global eye care community.

Nominations must include the name/location/practice name/contact information of the candidate, as well as the name/affiliation/contact information for the nominator. They must be emailed no later than October 1, 2024, at 11:59 pm ET to cli@contactlensinstitute.org. The submission can be written within the body of the email or attached as a Word or PDF document. Questions may be sent to the same address. Selection will be at the sole discretion of the CLI Board of Directors.

See 2023 Culture Award Winners